BRFSS Brief Number 0906, Milk Consumption New York State Adults 2007

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an annual statewide telephone survey of adults developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administered by the New York State Department of Health. The BRFSS is designed to provide information on behaviors, risk factors, and utilization of preventive services related to the leading causes of chronic and infectious diseases, disability, injury, and death among the noninstitutionalized, civilian population aged 18 years and older.

Introduction

Consuming a diet high in saturated fat is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in New York State and a significant focus of the New York State Department of Health Prevention Agenda Towards the Healthiest State.1 Milk is the largest source of saturated fat in children's diets and the third largest source in adults' diets. Switching from whole to fat-free/skim milk can contribute to adults being able to meet United States Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations of consuming 10 percent or less of total calories from saturated fat and no more than 30 percent of total calories from all fats.2 Consuming low-fat milk and other low-fat dairy products is a component of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan.3

BRFSS Questions

What type of milk do you usually drink or put on your cereal?

whole (regular)

2% milk (reduced fat)

1% milk (low fat)

skim milk (fat free)

Milk consumption among New York State adults, by BRFSS survey years

Type of Milk

2003

2005

2007

%*

95% CI*

%

95% CI

%

95% CI

Whole milk

27.0

25.4

28.6

21.5

19.7

23.3

21.3

19.6

23.0

2% milk

27.8

26.3

29.3

24.9

23.1

26.7

25.0

23.5

26.5

1% milk

15.1

14.0

16.2

16.7

15.2

18.2

17.3

16.0

18.6

Skim milk

20.5

19.2

21.8

25.0

23.2

26.8

23.7

22.2

25.2

No milk

9.5

8.6

10.4

12.0

10.7

13.3

12.7

11.5

13.9

* % = weighted percentage; CI = confidence interval.

Note: Percentages are age-adjusted to 2000 US census population.

Milk consumption among New York State adults: 2007 BRFSS

Population Characteristics

Whole (regular)

2% milk (reduced fat)

1% milk (low fat)

Skim milk (fat free)

Don't drink milk

%a

95% CIa

%

95% CI

%

95% CI

%

95% CI

%

95% CI

New York State (NYS)

20.9

19.3-22.6

25.2

23.7-26.7

17.3

16.1-18.6

23.8

22.4-25.2

12.8

11.7-14.0

Sex

Male

25.2

22.6-28.0

24.7

22.4-27.1

15.2

13.4-17.3

21.5

19.4-23.8

13.4

11.6-15.4

Female

17.1

15.3-19.0

25.6

23.8-27.6

19.2

17.6-20.9

25.9

24.1-27.7

12.2

10.9-13.7

Age (years)

18-24

33.6

26.7-41.3

22.1

16.7-28.7

14.8

10.3-20.8

17.4

12.6-23.5

12.0

7.9-18.0

25-34

27.5

22.8-32.8

22.8

18.7-27.4

14.3

11.3-18.0

25.1

21.0-29.6

10.3

7.6-14.0

35-44

21.3

18.1-24.9

24.3

21.3-27.7

19.0

16.3-22.1

22.6

19.6-25.8

12.8

10.4-15.7

45-54

17.8

15.3-20.7

28.3

25.5-31.3

16.8

14.6-19.2

23.7

21.1-26.4

13.5

11.4-15.9

55-64

15.8

13.2-18.7

26.6

23.7-29.7

19.0

16.4-22.0

23.0

20.4-26.0

15.6

13.3-18.2

≥65

13.0

11.0-15.4

26.0

23.5-28.7

19.4

17.3-21.8

29.1

26.6-31.8

12.5

10.7-14.5

Race/ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic

14.3

13.0-15.7

27.0

25.4-28.6

19.8

18.4-21.2

28.1

26.6-29.7

10.8

9.8-11.9

Black, non-Hispanic

29.5

24.4-35.2

25.3

20.5-30.7

13.2

10.0-17.4

11.5

8.4-15.7

20.5

16.1-25.7

Hispanic

35.3

29.5-41.7

18.9

14.7-23.8

15.1

11.4-19.7

16.9

13.0-21.6

13.9

10.3-18.4

Other, non-Hispanic

30.3

23.3-38.4

23.5

18.1-30.0

10.7

7.2-15.7

22.3

16.4-29.6

13.2

9.4-18.2

Annual household income

<$15,000

34.8

28.0-42.2

23.4

19.0-28.6

13.1

9.6-17.7

15.0

10.7-20.5

13.7

9.4-19.6

$15,000-$24,999

30.7

25.6-36.2

24.3

20.6-28.3

13.5

10.4-17.5

18.1

14.6-22.1

13.5

10.5-17.2

$25,000-$34,999

23.1

18.2-28.9

28.2

23.7-33.3

15.7

12.5-19.6

18.3

14.9-22.4

14.7

10.6-19.9

$35,000-$49,999

17.5

13.9-21.9

31.3

26.9-36.1

16.6

13.4-20.3

21.8

18.2-25.8

12.9

9.9-16.5

≥$50,000

14.9

13.0-16.9

23.6

21.5-25.8

20.4

18.5-22.5

28.9

26.8-31.2

12.2

10.7-13.9

Missingb

24.7

19.8-30.3

24.2

20.1-28.8

15.5

12.4-19.2

23.8

19.8-28.3

11.8

9.1-15.2

Education

Less than high school

46.2

39.5-52.9

18.3

14.5-23.0

10.2

7.1-14.4

12.3

8.6-17.4

13.0

9.4-17.6

High school or GED

22.4

19.4-25.6

32.2

29.2-35.3

16.0

13.8-18.5

18.2

15.9-20.7

11.3

9.2-13.8

Some post-high school

19.7

16.8-23.1

29.3

26.1-32.7

16.7

14.4-19.2

21.1

18.5-24.0

13.2

11.0-15.9

College graduate

13.6

11.6-15.7

19.5

17.5-21.6

20.7

18.6-22.9

33.0

30.6-35.5

13.3

11.7-15.1

Weight Status

Obesec

18.2

15.3-21.5

26.7

24.0-29.7

20.1

17.6-22.9

22.6

20.0-25.5

12.4

10.2-14.9

Overweightd

18.6

16.1-21.4

26.4

23.8-29.0

17.5

15.4-19.8

24.5

22.2-26.9

13.1

11.1-15.3

Neither overweight nor obesee

25.3

22.5-28.3

23.2

20.8-25.8

15.6

13.7-17.7

23.4

21.1-25.8

12.6

10.9-14.5

Region

New York City (NYC)

29.9

26.5-33.6

16.8

14.6-19.4

16.0

13.9-18.4

20.4

17.8-23.3

16.8

14.4-19.5

NYS exclusive of NYC

16.6

15.0-18.2

29.2

27.4-31.0

18.0

16.5-19.6

25.4

23.8-27.1

10.8

9.7-12.1

% = weighted percentage; CI = confidence interval

"Missing" category included because more than 10% of the sample did not report income.